Six months after he was trapped underwater for 25 minutes, Gore Otteson admires the Christmsa tree at his family’s Lakewood home in 2010. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

“He was white and lifeless, still in his pajama shirt and diaper. His head was back, his hair wet, and his face white as a ghost. Nausea kicked me in the stomach. It happened. The water that I had loved so much … had taken him from me.”

That excerpt from Amy and Dave Otteson’s book “Giving Up Gore: When Our Worst Fear Became Our Greatest Gift” details the harrowing moments when the Lakewood couple found their 18-month-old son, Gore, pinned on a log in a frigid, rushing irrigation ditch near the family cabin outside Gunnison in July 2010. He’d been underwater for at least 25 minutes as his family frantically searched for the happy toddler with a penchant for exploring and a fascination with water.